Insertable housing

ABSTRACT

Two like L-shaped elements mate together to form an insertable switch housing having a number of spaced grooves in opposed end walls for accommodating different types of switches and have opposed pairs of cantilevered L-shaped legs serrated at the top that may be urged inward as the housing is inserted through an opening in a chassis and then snap out to coact with an outside lip of the hosing and sandwich a portion of the chassis plate adjacent the edge of the slot through which the switch is inserted. A feature of the invention is that a number of switches may be inserted side by side in a common slot with a generally Zshaped adapter between switches arranged to coact with respective generally L-shaped members so that two of the L-shaped members and one less than the total number of side-by-side switches to be accommodated form the housing.

United States Patent [451 July 4, 1972 Wright, Jr.

[54] INSERTABLE HOUSING [72] Inventor: Thomas H. Wright, Jr., BocaRaton, Fla.

[73] Assignee: ULD Electronics Corp., Hollywood, Fla.

[22] Filed: April 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 130,652

[51] Int. Cl ..H0lh 9/08, l-101h 9/02 [58] Field of Search ZOO/168 C,168 B, 168 R; 174/57 [56] References Cited UNTTED STATES PATENTS3,168,612 2/1965 Sorenson ..200/168 C 7 3,273,104 9/1966 Krol ...200/l68C 3,337,708 8/1967 Cerveny et al. 200/168 C 3,339,050 8/1967 Mitchell200/168 C 3,446,467 5/1969 Bailey et al. .....174/57 X 3,571,548 3/1971Osika ..200/168 C Primary Examiner-H. 0. Jones Attorney-Charles Hieken[5 7] ABSTRACT Two like L-shaped elements mate together to form aninsertable switch housing having a number of spaced grooves in opposedend walls for accommodating different types of switches and have opposedpairs of cantilevered L-shaped legs serrated at the top that may beurged inward as the housingis inserted through an opening in a chassisand then snap out to coact with an outside lip of the hosing andsandwich a portion of the chassis plate adjacent the edge of the slotthrough which the switch is inserted. A feature of the invention is thata number of switches may be inserted side by side in a common slot witha generally Z-shaped adapter between switches arranged to coact withrespective generally L-shaped members so that two of the L-shapedmembers and one less than the total number of side-by-side switches tobe accommodated form the housmg;

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PKTENIEMF-a m2 3, 674.961 SHEET 10F 2 Fl 6.9 22 INVENTOR THOMAS H. WRIGHT JR. BY

ATTORNEY I PATENTEDJUL 4 m2 3. 6 74,961 sum 2 or 2 INVENTOR THOMAS H.WRIGHT JR. BY

ATTORNEY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates ingeneral to insertable component housings and more particularly concernsa novel housing capable of accommodating a wide variety of switches tofacilitate rapid and secure insertion of the switch into a chassis platewhile presenting an attractive appearance.

It is an important object of this invention to provide a housing forfacilitating the insertion of components.

It is another object of the invention to provide a housing in accordancewith the preceding object for facilitating the insertion of electricalslide and rocker switches.

It is another object of the invention to achieve one or more of thepreceding objects with a housing that is relatively easy and inexpensiveto fabricate.

It is a further object of the invention to achieve one or more of thepreceding objects with a housing capable of securing and neatlyaccommodating an electrical slide and rocker switch.

It is still a further object of the invention to achieve one or more ofthe preceding objects while facilitating the insertion of a relativelylarge number of components side-by-side with relatively few housingcomponents.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is at leastone generally I..- shaped element formed with an end wall having aplurality of generally parallel grooves and a side wall formed with atleast one cantilevered generally L-shaped tab having its free endnormally spaced from and adjacent to a lip extending from the side wallfor coacting with the adjacent lip to snugly engage a chassis plate.Preferably there are two of such cantilevered legs in the side wall. Twoof said housing elements coact to comprise a component housing that maybe urged through a slot in a chassis plate as the legs are urged inwarduntil the lip firmly engages the chassis plate and the legs springoutward to firmly engage the inside of the chassis plate with theopposed lip portion in engagement with the outside of the chassis plate.Preferably the portion adjacent the free end of the cantilevered leg isserrated to facilitate firm engagement with the inside of the chassisplate.

Preferably each element is formed with means to facilitate snugengagement with a mating element, such as a pin and socket arrangement.

According to another feature of the invention, spacer elements having aside wall separating spaced end walls may be arranged for mating witheach other for accommodating a number of side-by-side switches or matingwith one or two of the first-mentioned elements.

Numerous other features, objects, and advantages of the invention willbecome apparent from the following specification when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawing in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a housingaccording to the invention illustration the two L-shapcd elements thatcoact to form a housing for facilitating insertion of switches bypressing the housing through a slot in a chassis;

FIG. 2 is a side view of an element and switch seated in a chassis slotwith the chassis plate in section illustrating how a push slide switchmay be readily accommodated in the housing according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a similar view illustrating how a rocker slide switch may beaccommodated;

FIG. 4 is a view through section 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a similar view after insertion to illustrate how the inventionsnugly engages the chassis edge adjacent to the insertion slot;

FIGS. 68 are top, side and end views of a spacer for coacting withelements of FIG. 1 for accommodating a number of switches side-by-side;and

FIG. 9 shows two of the latter elements sandwiching a spacer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With reference now to thedrawing and more particularly FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown an explodedview of an exemplary housing according to the invention. Elements 1 land 12 are identical and may be molded plastic elements, each elementbeing a unitary structure. The views of elements 11 and 12 illustratethe outside and inside, respectively, of the housing elements. Eachelement includes an end wall 13, a side wall 14, and a bezel 15. Twohalf round bosses 16 and 17 are located underneath the bezel at eachcomer. The bottom of long end wall 13 is formed with a socket 21 formating engagement with a pin 22 attached to the bottom of a short endwall 23.

Side wall 14 is formed with cantilevered ears 24 and 25 that have freeends 26 and 27, respectively, immediately below bezel 15. Ears 24 and 25may flex inward as the housing is inserted and then snap outward forsnug engagement with the inside of a chassis plate as illustrated inFIG. 5. The inside of long end wall 13 is formed with parallel grooves31, 32 and 33 for accommodating the edges of switch plates for locationat different depths inside the chassis plate. Short end wall 23 includessimilar grooves 34, 35 and 36 as best seen in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a push slide switch 41 seated withits metal housing plate ears 42 and 43 in grooves 34 and 31,respectively, with ends 26 and 27 of ears 24 and 25 firmly engaging theinside of chassis plate 44. Element 11 is not shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3so as not to obscure the relationship among the different elements whenthe housing and switch are seated in a slot in the chassis plate.

Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown a view of a rocker switch 45 havingcars 46 and 47 of the switch housing plate accom' modated in grooves 36and 33, respectively, to illustrate how the invention may accommodate adifferent type of switch while having the actuator at a convenientdistance outside the chassis plate 44.

Referring to FIG. 4 there is shown a view through section 4-4 of element12 helpful in understanding the structure of the ears. Referring to FIG.5 there is shown the section view of FIG. 4 with chassis plate 44interposed between bezel l5 and ear 24.

Referring to FIGS. 68 there are shown top, side and end views,respectively, of a spacer element according to the invention capable ofcoacting with elements, such as 11 and 12, for accommodating a number ofside-by-side switches. The spacer element includes a side wall 51separating long end walls 52 and 53, respectively, each carrying a bezel15'. Side wall 51 separates short end wall 54 from long end wall 52 andshort end wall 55 from long end wall 53, each of the short walls beingformed with a pin 22 while each long end wall is formed with a socket23. Each long end wall is formed with grooves 31, 32 and 33 while eachshort end wall is formed with grooves 34', 35 and 36'.

Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown an exploded view illustrating howthe spacer element 61 may be inserted between elements 11 and 12 toaccommodate a pair of side-by-side switches. Any number of additionalswitches may be inserted side-by-side by inserting additional spacerelements, always having elements 11 and 12 at the end of the slot inwhich the switches are accommodated.

Having described the physical arrangement of preferred embodiments ofthe invention, the method of using the invention will be described.First, if the switch housing ears, such as 46 and 47 or 42 and 43, aretoo long, they may be cut to a length which corresponds to theseparation between opposed long and short end wall grooves. Then theswitch housing ears may be inserted in opposed grooves of one of theelements, such as grooves 33 and 36 of element 12. Then the otherelement, such as element 11, is placed in mating engagement with element12 having its grooves 33 and 36 accommodating ears 46 and 47 and its pin22 and socket 21 in mating engagement with the socket and pin of element12. The housing then snugly accommodates the switch, such as 45, and maybe pressed into the slot in chassis plate 44 to the positions shown inFIG. 3.

If it is desired to remove the switch for any reason, cars 24 and 25 maybe pressed inward and the housing and switch assembly removed.

The invention has a number of features. The cost of the housing elementsis low, and they are relatively easy to fabricate in large quantities.Assembly of the switch in the housing is relatively easy to accomplishby relatively unskilled personnel. Insertion into a chassis is rapid andeasy while providing a secure fastening to the chassis that isattractive and may help foreign particles from reaching the inside ofthe chassis. The switch may be wired while outside the chassis where itis easy and rapid to wire and then inserted into the chassis. A prewiredswitch may be snaked" through the chassis hole, the housing applied andthen snapped into the chassis hole.

The use of the half-round bosses facilitates alignment and squaring ofthe assembly into the hole through which it is pressed.

The pin and socket is one approach for keeping the two identical halvestogether so that like elements may coact to make a complete housing.This fastening may be accomplish in many different ways. For example,tongue and groove, dovetailing, hook and receiver, a metal band, tape,rubber band, adhesive, ultrasonic welding and numerous other approachesmay be used to help keep the halves together.

Still another alternate approach might involve reversing the overlook;that is, instead of the short end being under just the size of the bezelit could be the long portion of the shelves with the bezel attached inreverse approach.

Still another alternative could involve an adjustable tap bezel positionso that switches of difierent exposed widths and throws could beaccommodated in the same housing.

It is evident that those skilled in the art may now make numerous othermodifications and uses of and departures from the specific embodimentsdescribed herein without departing from the inventive concepts.Consequently, the invention is to be construed as embracing each andevery novel feature and novel combination of features present in orpossessed by the apparatus and techniques herein disclosed and limitedsolely by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 4

What is claimed is: 1. An insertable housing comprising,

5 means defining a wall formed with a bezel and a cantilevered earhaving a free end adjacent to the bezel for colaacting therewith tosnugly engage a portion of a chassis p te,

said ear being resiliently urgable toward said wall for passing througha chassis opening and then moving away frlgm said wall to snugly engagethe inside of the chassis p te,

said housing comprising an element of generally L-shaped cross sectionhaving a long end wall perpendicular to'a side wall.

2. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 1 wherein said ear isof generally L-shaped cross section.

3. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 2 and furthercomprising at least another of said ears in a side wall thereof.

4. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 1 and furthercomprising another of said L-shaped elements for mating engagement withthe first of said elements.

- 5. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 1 wherein said longend wall is formed with parallel grooves for accommodating electricalswitches at different depths inside said chassis plate.

6. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 5 and furthercqmprisin a short end wallop ite said long end wall formed with p e]grooves therein or accommodating electrical switches at different depthsinside said chassis plate.

7. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 4 and furthercomprising a spacer element formed with a side wall and at least longend walls separated by the latter side wall and orthogonal thereto formating engagement with said elements.

8. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 7 and furthercomprising a short end wall opposite each of said long end walls witheach of said short and long end walls formed with parallel grooves foraccommodating electrical switches at diflerent depths inside saidchassis plate.

9. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 4 wherein each comerof said L-shaped elements is fonned with a half round boss adjacent tosaid bezel to facilitate insertion into a slot in said chassis plate.

=0: 1: a a a will I

1. An insertable housing comprising, means defining a wall formed with abezel and a cantilevered ear having a free end adjacent to the bezel forcoacting therewith to snugly engage a portion of a chassis plate, saidear being resiliently urGable toward said wall for passing through achassis opening and then moving away from said wall to snugly engage theinside of the chassis plate, said housing comprising an element ofgenerally L-shaped cross section having a long end wall perpendicular toa side wall.
 2. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid ear is of generally L-shaped cross section.
 3. An insertablehousing in accordance with claim 2 and further comprising at leastanother of said ears in a side wall thereof.
 4. An insertable housing inaccordance with claim 1 and further comprising another of said L-shapedelements for mating engagement with the first of said elements.
 5. Aninsertable housing in accordance with claim 1 wherein said long end wallis formed with parallel grooves for accommodating electrical switches atdifferent depths inside said chassis plate.
 6. An insertable housing inaccordance with claim 5 and further comprising a short end wall oppositesaid long end wall formed with parallel grooves therein foraccommodating electrical switches at different depths inside saidchassis plate.
 7. An insertable housing in accordance with claim 4 andfurther comprising a spacer element formed with a side wall and at leastlong end walls separated by the latter side wall and orthogonal theretofor mating engagement with said elements.
 8. An insertable housing inaccordance with claim 7 and further comprising a short end wall oppositeeach of said long end walls with each of said short and long end wallsformed with parallel grooves for accommodating electrical switches atdifferent depths inside said chassis plate.
 9. An insertable housing inaccordance with claim 4 wherein each corner of said L-shaped elements isformed with a half round boss adjacent to said bezel to facilitateinsertion into a slot in said chassis plate.